These past 10 days have been full of surprises, joy and heartache, with new friendships forged on the gruesome trails in the Nepalese Himalayas. Eighteen people came together, from different walks of life for a common purpose — to raise money and awareness for multiple myeloma. Each team member was already a winner in my book by signing up for this extraordinary undertaking. We ended up raising close to $400,000 for myeloma research!

The past 10 days saw us conquer brutal terrain day in and day out — supporting each other and digging deep when it mattered the most. We cared for each other when a few of us felt unwell and could not finish the journey. No one can predict how the human body will respond to steep rises in altitude, but no one can ever doubt the resolve the MM4MM Everest Base Camp trek team had for this expedition. During the trip, we as a group redefined our expectations of fine dining, personal hygiene, quality of hotel lodgings and most importantly, bathrooms. We saw the price of a clean bottle of water rise from 100 Nepali rupees to 450 Nepali rupees along the route. We have come to appreciate the simplicity and impermanence of life.

There were no labels associated with any one of us (doctor, patient, caregiver, researcher, MMRF staff, Sherpa) — we functioned as a family. However, we all have trek names that will go down in the annals of MM4MM Everest Base Camp trek history (the poet, mountain Jesus, the Yeti, Himalaya playa, Z-pack, kidney boy, Sir Paul the optimist, etc.). I have come to love and respect every team member; these kinds of friendships are forever. I thank every one of my teammates for letting me be a part of their lives and thank the MMRF, CURE and Takeda for creating this wonderful fundraising initiative.